Electric steaming iron



MalCh 18, 1952 R. G. BOARDMAN Erm. 2,589,921

ELECTRICAL STEAMING IRON Filed Jan. 14, 1948 [lll 4| yf ZAIB' 47 40 l F'IG I 4,3 44 4542 4e .4a W gh A\ Patented Mar. 18, 1952 ELECTRIQSTEAMING IRON- Reginald G. Boardman, Sutton Coldfield', near Birmingham, and'. Archibald P. Thomas, Marston Green, Birmingham;A England Application January 14.19.48, serial No. 2,254 In Great Britain December 19, 1945 Section 1,`Publc Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires December 19,1965" 7 Claims. (Cl, v38.-7"1).

Q This invention relates to smoothing irons oi theI kind which are electrically heated and prol vided with means for delivering .steam to. the underside of the sole plate, such means comprising a. water reservoir disposed above the .sole plate, a. Water supply tube depending therefrom and commun-icating at. its lower end with ailash boiler provided in the sole plate from which the f. handle V2.0r oir 2 This water reservoir is indicated at. I8. Vinthe drawing and is. provided by theinteror. of the the iron which is made hollowand Conveniently .formed in a plastic material as shown or, if desired, in metaland. provided near `the forward end ci the iron and in its upperp'art with a; water illing openingjclosed-by a steam is delivered during the ironing operation to the underside of the sole plate through one or more openings therein.

'The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved construction in which; the

removable screwedV plug 2|'.

`Extended vertically through the rear part of .the reservoir and. projecting beyond kthe upper `Jutll thereof is. a. water su-priv tube .22 .formed of Waterflows evenly from the water supplyv tube`v f 'tothevboiler instead of falling intermittently in drops, thereby avoiding intermittent delivery. of

the steam in the form of puffs and providing insteadl a substantialy even flow of the` steam during ironing. 1

Other objects of the invention will become appa-rent from the following description in the 'drawings accompanying which is a cross sectional view of an electric'smoothing iron constructed in accordance with the present inventionr metal and-provided adiacent to the bottom. of the` reservoir `with a, radial hole. 23..; and above this: hole the tube is threaded internally' and Work-ine' within thisv threaded part and in tho upper portion of the tube is ya correspondingly threaded valve. stem 2.4 forrlfxed at. its lower end with a conical valve member 125 which co-oper.-

ares witha seating, 26 provided. within the tube belowthe hole 23 by forming the; tube at this v position of reduced crossV section,

The stem 24 projects above the upper end of thetube `and carries. an-operating knob 2,1 so that Figure 2 is a cross sectional plan view of the central part of the sole plate of the construe;y tion shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detailed perspective View of part ofy the same construction illustrating one form of upstanding member for ensuring even ow of the water as above described.

vFigure 4A is a detailed cross sectional view o the line 4--4 of'Flgure 1.

'The smoothingv iron shown in the drawing comprises a sole plate I0 carrying on its upper face a conventional form of electric resistance element indicatedv at il and secured to the sole plate by a clamping plate l2. Disposed above ie. latter-'is a known .type vof thermally respon.-

sive switch indicated generally at i3, controlled by ay biemetal strip I4, the switch serving in the known Way tocutooiF the current to the resistance element Il when. the sole plate attains a given which extend around an upstanding. ilange lll y ormed'ontheupper face of the solo plate vafi-l jacent-the periphery thereof; which .flange servesto prevent water passing on to the upper part of the sole plate andinto the space beneath Ythe cover in theevcnt, for example, of. water being' .f spilled on to the iron during the operation; .off Imi-ing tbcwater reservoir.

by turning the latter the. stem is advanced axially of the tube to `cutoff the waterow; entirely or to regulatethe rate of flow of thev water from the reservoir into the lower part off' the tube as desired.

The lower part of the .tube ProjeQtS lbeneatlii the reservoir and terminates in a threaded end lposed on the longitudinal centre line of. thev sole plate.

In order to reduce transmission of heatirom the sole plate to the -reservoirralong the lower part-of the tube, the latter is lformed with a number of vertically spaced heat radiating i-ins '30; so that substantial heating ofthe water within the reservoir as aresult-of such. heat transference is avoided.

:The boss 29 is ofv increased internal diameter in its lower portion and has removably mounted thereina metal plus .3l shown infFigure 3 which .is screwed into position from the underside of the .solo plate, therme ,on .its upper foce boneiormod centrally with vanupstanding conica-l member v3.2

"whichI projects into the lower end-'of thewater 1 ously and evenly when the valve 25 is cpenfinstead d ll in ntermittently in drops as vwould be the rmermet-vero not branded.'

vand hence tothe channels 43. vmight occur in the absence of such a barrier yin 3 The plug 3l is formed on opposite sides with a' flat 33 so as to provide between each side of the plug and the adjacent threaded interior oi the boss a vertical pasage 34 andlwhich passages communicate at their lower ends with an annular groove 35 provided around the plug by forming the latter below the threaded part with part- Extending longitudinally of the sole plate onone side of the longitudinal centre line thereof, the plate has formed therein a horizontal steam passage 0 which extends tangentially with respect to the annular recess 3l so as to be in communication with the annular groove 35, the rear end of the passage terminating at the rear edge of the sole plate and being closed by the removable plug 4 I.

YThis steam passage terminates 'towards the C front end of the sole plate ina circulansteam distribution opening 2'form'ed in the underside of the plate, and communicating with the' lower end of this opening the sole plate has formed on its underside a number of channels 43 along f 7 which the steam can pass from the opening 42 and by which channels the steam is delivered to the articles which are being ironed.

Passage of. the steam from the opening 42 to the channels 43 is ensured by providing the opening with a removable cylindrical distribution plug 44 of av diameter less vthan the diameter of the opening, the plug 'being formed.. at its lower end with a frustoeconical part #15,. the

peripheral lip 43 of which engagesv with the periphery of the lower end of the opening 42 i when the plug is in position, thus'e'nsuring that the steam passes to the channels i3 as will be apparent from Figure l.

Conveniently the steam passage Ail is formed of/two diameters so as to provide a portion 4i of larger cross section which is in communication with the annular groove '35',"and'A a second portion i3 of reduced cross section 'in alignment with the portion 41 and terminating in the steam distributionA opening.

Such a configuration of the steam passage 4i! facilitates its formation by a drilling operation, while the formation of the inner portion 4S thereof of the lesser diameter provides in the passage a shoulder 43 'which forms a barrier to prevent any water which may be presentl in" the bottom of the outer portion 41 of the 'passage @ilA l,from passing to the inner portion thereof Such water"'1iow the event of the valve member 25 being opened into a position giving an excessive Qwater new.

With the above described construction when the sole plate is heatedby the electric Aresistance element l i, the water flowing from the lower end of the supply tube 22`is rapidly raised in temperature in the vicinity o1 the removable plug 3i owing to the heat transmitted thereto "from the sole plate and is converted into steam at'this position if the rateof new is relatively small,

and any water not converted into steam in the vicinity of the plug 3| is turned into steam in the steam passage 40, which together with the openings or passages in the vicinity of the plug serves as a flash boiler for rapidly converting into steam the whole of the Water owing from the supply tube 22. If the rate of water flow is high a greater proportion of the lwater is converted into steam within the passage 40.

By providing the lower end of the water supply tube with the upstanding member 32 as above described an even continuous flow of the water at the plug 33 is ensured so that the steam lows Asubstantially evenly to the channels 3 by which it is delivered to the underside of the sole plate. Thus the steam is delivered at a substantially uniform rate to the articles to be ironed whereby the satisfactory ironing thereof is facilitated. Furthermore, there is no likelihood of the steam being emitted intermittentlyv in the form of puffs Which might alarm the user and which would occur in the absence of the upstanding member In addition, by mounting the upstanding mem-l ber 32 upon a plug which is removable fromthe sole plate as described, the plug may be detached for cleaning purposes and any scale forming thereon or within the boss 29 may be removed, such scale being liable to form at this position if the water is hard.

By arranging ior the steam passage lil to terminate at the rear end of the sole plate, the opening being closed by the removable plug 4|., the latter may be detached and the steamf-passage cleaned in the event of scale similarly 4forming therein.

The handle 20 of the iron whichrforms'the Water reservoir, may be made of transparent or translucentl material or alternatively Vwhere opaque, may be provided with a transparent `or translucent window so that the level of the water within the reservoir can be readily ascertained and the reservoir relled as and when necessary.

Instead of forming the flats 33 at both sides lof the plug 3|, a single nat may be formed on one side only ofthe plug, while instead of providing a plurality of channels 43 on the underside of the sole plate, a single channel might beprovided on the underside vfor delivering the steam to the articles to be ironed.

We claim:

l. In an electric smoothing iron of the kind having means for delivering steam to the underside of the sole plate comprising, a waterreservoir disposed above the sole plate, a-flashboiler provided in the sole plate and a water supply tube depending from the Water reservoir and Acommunicating at its lower end with the flash boiler,` ari-upstanding member carried by the part vof the Asole plate in which is provided the flash boiler, whcih member projects into the lower end of the dependent water supply tube, -saidprojectin'g member having a diameter less than-:the internal diameter of the lower end of the tube to provide an annular space around said member through which thewater can now to the flash boiler. i p Y 2. In an electric smoothing iron of the-kind having means for delivering steam to the under.- side of the sole plate comprising, a Waterrreservoir disposed abovev the sole plate, a flash boiler provided in the sole plate and a water supply tube depending Vfrom vthe waterreservoir. and communicating at-it's lower. end with theflash boiler; a sole plate having anropening therein beneath the lower end of the dependent water supply tube, a plug mounted removably in said opening, said plug forming part of the ash boiler and having an upstanding part which projects into the lower end of said dependent water supply tube, said projecting part having a diameter less than the internal diameter of the lower end of the tube to provide an annular space around said part through which the water can flow to the flash boiler.

3. In an electric smoothing iron of the kind having means for delivering steam to the underside of the sole plate comprising, a water reservoir disposed above the sole plate, a flash boiler provided in the sole plate and a water supply tube depending from the water reservoir and communicating at its lower end with the flash boiler; a sole plate having a threaded hole thereing beneath the lower end of the dependent water supply tube, a threaded plug mounted removably in said threaded hole, said plug forming part of the flash boiler and having an upstanding part which projects into the lower end of said dependent water supply tube, said projecting part having a diameter less than the internal diameter of the lower end of the tube to provide an annular space around said part through which the water can flow to the flash boiler.

4. In an electric smoothing iron of the kind having means for delivering steam to the underside of the sole plate comprising, a water reservoir disposed above the sole plate, a ash boiler provided in the sole plate and a water supply tube depending from the water reservoir and communicating at its lower end with the ash boiler; a sole plate having a threaded hole therein beneath the lower end of the dependent water supply tube, a threaded plug mounted removably in said threaded hole, said plug forming part of the flash boiler and having an upstanding part which projects into the lower end of said dependent water supply tube, said projecting part having a diameter less than the internal diameter of the lower end of the tube to provide an annular space around said part, said sole plate and plug having an annular groove therebetween surrounding said plug, said plug having a recess on one side thereof providing a communication from said annular space to said annular groove the flash boiler being of tubular form communicating at one end with said annular groove, and said sole plate having also steam distribution channels on its under-side communieating with said flash boiler.

5. In an electric smoothing iron of the kind having means for delivering steam to the underside of the sole plate comprising, a water reservoir disposed above the sole plate, a flash boiler provided in the sole plate and a water supply tube depending from the water reservoir and communicating at its lower end with the flash boiler; the provision of an upstanding member which forms part of the flash boiler and which projects into the lower end of the dependent water supply tube, said projecting member having a diameter less than the internal diameter of the lower end of the tube to provide an annular space around said member, the ash boiler being of tubular form comprising two aligned bores of dierent diameters, said sole plate having a passage connecting said annular space to said larger bore and said sole plate having also steam distribution channels on its underside communicating with said smaller bore.

6. In an electric smoothing iron of the kind having means for delivering steam to the underside of the sole plate comprising, a water reservoir disposed above the sole plate, a flash boiler provided in the sole plate and a water supply tube depending from the water reservoir and communicating at its lower end with the flash boiler; the provision of an upstanding conical member which forms part of the flash boiler and which projects into the lower end of the dependent water supply tube, said projecting member having a diameter less than the internal diameter of the lower end of the tube to provide an annular space around said member through which the water can flow to the flash boiler.

7. In an electric smoothing iron of the kind having means for delivering steam to the underside of the sole plate comprising, a water reservoir disposed above the sole plate, a ash boiler provided in the sole plate and a water supply tube depending from the water reservoir and communicating at its lower end with the i'lash boiler; a sole plate having an opening therein beneath the lower end of the dependent water supply tube, a plug which forms part of the flash boiler mounted removably in said opening, said plug having an upstanding conical part which projects into the lower end of said dependent water supply tube, said projecting part having a diameter less than the internal diameter of the lower end of the tube to provide an annular space around said part through which the Water can ow to the dash boiler.

R. G. BOARDMAN. A. P. THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,276,573 Rohan Aug. 20, 1918 1,933,632 Lindgren Nov. 7, 1933 2,021,606 Mitzman Nov. 19, 1935 2,353,425 Woodman July 11, 1944 2,387,281 Morton Oct. 23, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date` 545,741 Great Britain June 10, 1942 

